Officials of Air Force Reserve Command’s 920th Rescue Wing at Patrick AFB, Fla., tell Florida Today that as many as 40 percent of its pararescuemen will retire over the next two to five years. This is one of the tough-to-pass-the-training battlefield airmen fields that has prompted Air Force recruiters to head to extreme sports events. The usual draw for the unit of three to four new recruits a year, officials tell the newspaper, will no longer suffice. The wing has identified a unit recruiter and painted murals on equipment trailers to help attract attention. (Read the article here.)
In the wake of a major Chinese military shakeup, the head of U.S. Space Command warned of China’s “breathtakingly fast” advances in space during visits to Japan and South Korea. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting’s trip to the Indo-Pacific is his first overseas visit since taking command of SPACECOM in January.